Sadly, that's true. But I don't see what it is supposed to justify.

While I'm still not sure that this was a proportionate reaction, there's a very important difference between (a) the government taking away people's rights because of the views they express, and (b) a private organisation deciding that they don't want to be represented by someone who expresses views opposite to theirs. If someone in a prominent position in a conservative Christian church spoke out in favour of gay marriage, you'd expect them to be expelled pretty quickly, and I don't think many people would disagree that the church had a right to expel the person.